Gotten a bit more work done on Geminus, and still haven't figured out if that's going to be the final name or what the color of the bus is going to be.

Right now I'm looking heavy on the rustoleum professional gloss white, but I'd like something a bit more colorful that stands out in the peripheral vision. Due to state laws the most recognizable color, yellow, is ruled out. Next is neon green, but as I've pretty much decided on Rustoleum this is a no go since they don't offer that color.

White is the brightest color the offer that's not yellow. The only other option if I stay with rustoleum is Safety Blue, which looks nice IMO.

Got a tool/material rack built, and put in the back.

Also got a scangauge 2, can't recommend it enough for those that don't want to fork out for the PC version at $500. Four gauges at a time and also functions as a trip log, and to tell you how much money this trip is costing. That ticker increases quickly!

Just curious, Do the laws say it can't be can't be yellow, or it can't be National School Bus Chrome Yellow, or the new nomenclature of National School Bus Glossy Yellow. Can I run another shade of yellow and be legal?

I did a lot of digging on this because I couldn't get a straight answer, but ultimately: No, it cannot be any shade "similar to" National School Bus Yellow.

For the final word I contacted the State Transportation Police at 803-896-5500 and verified the laws I found were current and enforced. They are current (and listed below), but enforcement seems to be lacking.

SECTION 59-67-30. Painting and markings of school buses.

Every State-owned school bus while being used in the transportation of school pupils shall be substantially painted with high visibility yellow paint, conforming and similar to National School Bus chrome yellow, and shall display the following markings: ...

This section indicates both National School Bus Chrome Yellow and "similar" colors are considered the be school bus colors in SC.

SECTION 59-67-50. Removal of identification marks from former school buses.

All school buses in this State, when no longer used for school purposes and sold to any person for private or public use, must have all marks of identification showing that these buses were used by schools and school districts removed before private or public use may be made of them. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars or imprisonment upon the public works of the county in which the offense is committed for a period of not more than thirty days.

Any person who purchases a used school bus must paint it a color other than yellow before operating such bus on the highway. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court.

Right now I'm looking heavy on the rustoleum professional gloss white ... white is the brightest color the offer that's not yellow. The only other option if I stay with rustoleum is Safety Blue, which looks nice IMO.

Take a look at implement paint. We are using PPG and like how it STICKS. Not all of our bus has been painted, but some parts have about 18 months on them and still look un-touched by the weather.

Quote:

Originally Posted by geminusprime

Got a tool/material rack built, and put in the back.

What?!? No pictures???

Quote:

Originally Posted by geminusprime

Also got a scangauge 2, can't recommend it enough for those that don't want to fork out for the PC version at $500. Four gauges at a time and also functions as a trip log, and to tell you how much money this trip is costing. That ticker increases quickly!

I am thinking about getting either the scangauge 2 or the Bluefire. I like seeing another positive post on the scangauge 2, thanks!

Thanks, I've tried my best to do as much as I can as fast as I can. I'm a bit eager to leave my current town.

I've included photos of the rear tool storage, much have forgot that before.

Now I see . it was in the picture of the length of the bus I was fixated on the nice RED wheel wells and did not notice the rack. I do see it in the close up shots, thank you.

Our back end is similar in that it is unfinished. We have made the front 1/3 of the bus into the "cabin" area and the back 2/3 is bare metal. We will be using it to move our household goods first, then finish the conversion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by geminusprime

ScanGauge 2 is wonderful, I love having more gauges. The bluefire seems nice, but I use my phone already and didn't want to try to switch apps while driving.

I have a tablet that will be dedicted to be the accessory console display.

Quote:

Originally Posted by geminusprime

First I thought you wanted a BlueForce Tracker, and was curious why exactly you were driving your bus into a war zone.

Gotten a bit more work done on Geminus, and still haven't figured out if that's going to be the final name or what the color of the bus is going to be.

Right now I'm looking heavy on the rustoleum professional gloss white, but I'd like something a bit more colorful that stands out in the peripheral vision. Due to state laws the most recognizable color, yellow, is ruled out. Next is neon green, but as I've pretty much decided on Rustoleum this is a no go since they don't offer that color.

White is the brightest color the offer that's not yellow. The only other option if I stay with rustoleum is Safety Blue, which looks nice IMO.

I'm pretty sure they do make a John Deere green - which isn't neon, but I think it's a rather nice shade of green on its own, and certainly not a dark shade of green.

(Edit - or they used to, I don't see it in anything but a rattle can now. I do see a safety green in one of the Alkyd enamels.

So, painting got a bit delayed with a 10 day forecast of rain. Did end up picking up some white rustoleum enamel paint, although I can always paint over this.

Prepped the entire thing for painting already with sanding all the nooks and crannys. Also been doing some test drives to determine my rear end gear ratio - 5.38, yay! It's actually not quite that bad. I figure a lower end gearing means that it will have a lesser issue with inclines than a higher end gear, plus I do NOT like to drive fast in any vehicle. Seen far too many accidents in my travels.

I did have to push the DT466 to 2600+ RPM, but only for a period of a few minutes from one highway exit to another. Not a comfortable thing to do IMO, that thing was roaring. At 45-50mph / 2100-2350RPM it purrs nice and low.

So, paints!

Originally I wanted a slightly neon orange to match my first car, but couldn't find a suitable paint that was oil based. Next was a Flying Scottsman paintjob, with a body of dark green, a matte black hood, and mid section trim painted brown for the length of the bus.

Sticking with rustoleum, since I've already tested their enamel and it works great for the bus (so far, even after going over it while sanding the rest of the bus). Out of the colors available locally, I really wanted Almond, but they only sold that in ounce cans (even online, no gallons of it at lowes or home depot I could find). So I figured I'd just go with white, since worst case I can always paint over it.